Queer YA sci-fi comics
This particular portrait started out as a concept sketch for what a typical runner’s outfit might look like, using Chadsen as a model, even though xer character design hadn’t been totally finalized at that point. I went back later to ink and color the sketch, and made some corrections to Chadsen’s appearance to match xer final character design.
The comic pages and appendices are all uploaded. The fancy graphics are in place. It looks like … an actual website round these parts.
There are a handful of things yet to do, and some tweaks to be twoke, but they’re relatively minor and shouldn’t impact functionality.
Some sections are a little thin as yet. I only uploaded a couple of pieces of concept art and a couple of character portraits, even though I have quite a lot of both as yet unpublished. I figured I’d save ’em for general updates rather than trying to get every single scrap of bonus material posted on here before launching this beast.
But so yeah! I think we’re good to go.
Cheers,
Dylan
A single page comic I did to celebrate the second year of publishing the webcomic. You could think of this as a “deleted scene” from Chapter 4 of The Long Run if you like. It was, in fact, a panel I ended up cutting, though the dialogue is a new addition.
This is colored with marker and watercolor pencil, with a digitally-painted background.
A standalone single-pager I did to celebrate the first year of the webcomic.
Another piece that started out as a concept sketch, trying to figure out what Harcos look like from behind. A black & white version of this drawing was featured in the 2015 Queers & Comics Conference playing card deck fundraiser.
This particular version is ink lines printed out onto blue charcoal paper, and then hand-colored using colored pencil.
This piece started out life as a character design sketch. Later on I went back and redrew parts of it to make it consistent with the final designs for Hali and Razi, and then added color to finish it out.
This was colored with marker, watercolor, colored pencil, and acrylic paint.
These sketches are all based on real microscopes of centuries past. I wanted to start with a working microscope design instead of just making something up whole cloth, but I wanted it to look substantially different from a modern instrument. Thankfully, past humans had come up with some looks that fit nicely with the VotSS aesthetic.
You can see the final design in action on page 60.
This is one of the earliest pieces of concept art I created for Valley of the Silk Sky, nailing down the visuals for what the web structure of Pocalo looked like. There aren’t any cities or settlements visible here because I hadn’t gotten that far yet.
The web structure that spans almost the entire length and breadth of the valley is a country known as Pocalo.
Each level of the web structure is a separate province, and each province has its own distinct flora and fauna, culture, dialect, food, and so forth. There are elevators connecting the provinces that allow for travel up and down.
Muru is the third tier of the lower provinces, making it the topmost province that is still in direct contact with the ground. Muru is a bit of a rough place to make a go of things, as there are a number of predators roaming about who view humans as a tasty snack. The porous nature of Muru’s borders means that people can come and go as they please, making it a desirable location for those who wish to operate outside the law.
Most settlements in Muru are built high off the ground due to the aforementioned predators and bandits. Because much of the interior is in the shadow cast by the upper provinces, almost all major settlements in Muru are found around the outer edges. The city the arrow is pointing to is Duvane, an outpost town that is not at all flashy, but a good spot to head to if you have goods to sell or trade.
Despite being rough and difficult to navigate, Muru forms a cornerstone of the Pocali economy. It is home to many rare flora and fauna which are used to make medicines. The majority of runners spend at least some of their time foraging in Muru.
While there are several different types of Tolas, the ones who make their appearance in “Valley of the Silk Sky: Medicine; Run” are primarily Mountain Forest Tolas.
Mountain Forest Tolas spend the summers at high elevation and the winters at low elevation. They maintain permanent settlements at each endpoint, and migrate between them as the seasons change. Migration occurs over the course of several weeks, with small bands taking different routes through the mountain forests. A small maintenance group will stay on at each permanent settlement during the off-season, as will anyone who is too old or too sick to travel.
Tolas maintain large swaths of the mountain forests, planting different types of edible and medicinal foliage at different elevations. Rather than carry food with them as they travel, they follow pre-planned routes rich with fruit- and nut-bearing trees and other plants. The staggered migration allows for waves of ripening food to sustain each band in turn.
Tolas and humans have little direct contact due to significant language barriers (humans can’t physically vocalize much of the Tolas’ speech, and vice-versa). The Daraz, whose vocalization capabilities span across both language groups, may act as interpreters between Tolas and humans.
The Daraz helped broker one of the major treaties between humans and Tolas, which governs the use of forests. Humans are allowed to harvest small amounts of food and medicinals from Tola-maintained forests, but are not permitted to cut down any trees or otherwise remove plants without prior consultation.